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Whiskey Review: WhistlePig x Traeger Wood Fired SmokeStock Rye Whiskey

We review WhistlePig x Traeger Wood Fired SmokeStock Rye Whiskey. The barrels and proofing water were smoked with Traeger apple wood pellets.

OVERALL RATING

5
$73.00
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WhistlePig x Traeger Wood Fired SmokeStock Rye (iimage via Suzanne Bayard)

Tasting Notes

About:

Aged in new char level 3 American white oak barrels, 43% ABV, mash bill: undisclosed, SRP $73/ 750ml bottle.
Appearance:
This whiskey is a delicate pale yellow with a golden undertone.
Nose:
Initially this whiskey leaves no question about its smoky heritage, opening up with notes of cold charcoal, charred corn, and campfire smoke. It has some unpleasant chemical aromas like diesel smoke, body sweat, and lighter fluid. It’s almost faintly oxidized. With air, most of the chemical notes blow off, but there’s no hiding the fact that this heavily impacted by the smoke.
Palate:
Though light in color, this is no slouch in the body department as this is almost sticky in the mouth, it is so rich and viscous. At first, the flavor seems to linger in the background offering up a faintly sweet note of corn syrup and light caramel. This sweet note melts into liquid smoke with overt notes of charred pizza crust and burnt chocolate. The finish offers notes of ash and charcoal briquettes. The rye sits in the background, sour and sullen like an ignored little kid. I gave this a second chance a few days later, and the smoke seemed to have resolved with air, letting the sweet rye spice come out and play. The finish is still all liquid smoke.
Finish:
Comments:
I initially tasted this blind in a lineup of other ryes, and let’s just say there was no mistaking what this was. Don’t get me wrong, I love smoky liquids and consume unreasonable amounts of Lapsang Souchong, a Chinese black tea heavily influenced by pine wood smoke. This whiskey is overwhelmingly smoky to the point where I had to take a break before tasting other whiskies. On its own, indoors and far from the grill, this tastes more like an ingredient than a complement to a meal.rnrnIt felt like a waste of a good WhistlePig…. at first. It really needed time (aka oxygen) for the flavors to meld and integrate. When they did, it worked better, but I’m still not convinced. I can imagine this being pleasant next to a recently kindled fire or grill, where the air is heavy with smoke and you’re waiting for the lighter fluid to burn off.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

Suzanne Bayard

Suzanne Bayard struck out to the West Coast with her now husband almost a decade ago to explore the intersection of wine and policy in its world-class wine regions. She manages a Portland, OR bottle shop by day as the wine buyer and newsletter editor. She is also the Director of the Deep Roots Coalition, an organization of 30 Willamette Valley wineries that educate on and promote dry farming and sustainable practices. She joined the Whiskey Wash to explore two other passions: writing and whiskey.

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